Fuel tank size. Is this the right size?
 

The victim's stats. 2001 Ranger XLT 2.5L Auto std. cab short bed. The SO bought it with 59,000 miles and one owner. I recently acquired said Ranger for my project.

I recently had a fuel pump failure. I removed the bed to clean out the tank, replace the sending unit, and replace the fuel filler hoses. After completing the work, I needed fuel to get the truck running and be able to make it to the fuel station two miles from my house. I bought 5.5 gallons of fresh fuel. After getting the 5.5 gallons of fuel in, I started the truck and allowed it to idle a few minutes to check for leaks. Then I headed off to the fuel station. I filled the tank completely with fuel. It held even 12 gallons of fuel on top of 5.5 gallons I filled it with before leaving home. That's 17.5 gallons of fuel. Let us ass-u-me I used a full gallon to get to the fuel station 2 miles away. That leaves me with 16.5 gallons of fuel in the tank when I filled up. I didn't cram fuel in until it puked out of the filler. I allowed the fuel pump to stop on its own. I was under the impression that this Ranger should have come from the factory with a 14-gallon tank. While I was working on replacing the sending unit, I found a factory sticker next to the fill port that had 2000 on it. Unfortunately, fuel washed the sticker away before I could get a pic of it. This leads me to believe that the tank isn't the original, or the manufacturer used a leftover 2000 extended cab tank. I think that may be the case because this Ranger is early 2001 with a 2.5L engine instead of the 2.3L Duratec. Does this seem plausible, or is this the wrong tank for this truck? I did have to modify the bracket and pump to shorten the assembly to fit in the tank. It was 1.25 inches too tall. I bought the right sending unit listed for my truck. The tank does seem a bit long for the size of the truck. If this is the correct tank for my truck, is there a larger tank that will fit in its place?


Yes, I posted the same topic on TRS.

The 73-79 F-100/150's had a 18 gallon or a 22 gallon fuel tank. It was the same tank with the filler tube 4" further down int the tank. A popular mod was to cut the filler tube flush with the tank. Did they do it again?

Nominal fuel tank capacities for 2001:

reg cab short bed = 16.5
reg cab long bed = 20
supercab short bed = 19.5

So, it sounds like you have exactly the correct size tank. No, the factory did not substitute a different tank initially. 2000 tanks were the same as 2001 and the larger tanks from the other configurations wouldn't fit into the smaller available space in a RCSB.

There were three different fuel tank pump/sender assemblies for 2001- one for each of the three tanks. Yours should have been the one for 112" wheelbase 2001 RCSB. If you had to modify it, maybe it was not exactly the right one or, if aftermarket, it may have been made to the wrong specs.

I've had a 77 F100 and 79 F150 and I was unaware of that.

Thanks. I didn't force the tank and filler hose full of fuel. I let the pump stop on it's on and called it full. I probably could have gotten another gallon or two in there.

I ordered the Specter sending unit, or similar name, that is sold at Autozone, except I got mine from RockAuto. I have read that these units fair pretty well. So far its keeping the ole girl going.